Democrats ‘pivot’ on crime

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Democratic candidates are “calibrating” their crime message during this election season. The headline reads,

Minnesota Democrats embrace police-friendly message amid crime concerns

The article specifically refers to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and suburban congresspeople Dean Phillips and Angie Craig, all up for re-election in November.

Walz, Craig and Phillips are among Democrats across the country scaling back police reform ambitions and emphasizing a law-enforcement-friendly approach as they calibrate their message to appeal to voters rattled by violent crime.

The Star Tribune quotes Gov. Walz:

As crimes have gone up — both crimes of property and violent crimes — obviously there’s going to be an emphasis on pivoting towards that.

The word “pivot” gives the game away. Once safely re-elected, one assumes that Walz et al. will pivot back toward “police reform,” whatever that is. But now the message these candidates want to give to suburban voters is “we care” about crime.

The Star Tribune helps the effort with three tweets about the article over the weekend and it was one of the most read stories on the paper’s entire website.

One wonders why they bother? An online opinion poll published by KSTP-TV last week indicates that Walz enjoys a commanding 18-point lead over his Republican opponent.

Specifically on the issue of crime, Walz is said to hold a 51-35 lead over the Republican, almost as large as his overall lead in that poll.

As for now, it’s official: Minnesota is a high-crime state.